White House Sit-Ins End, but Keystone XL Fight Isn’t Over

More than 200 people were reportedly arrested Saturday at the White House on the final day of a two-week stretch of sit-ins against the planned Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry oil from the tar sands of Canada to refineries in Texas.

Tar Sands Action, the lead organizer of the White House protests, said on its website that 1,252 had been arrested over the course of the event.

The Obama administration has said it will decide before the end of the year whether to approve the $7 billion, 1,700-mile pipeline, which proponents say will boost U.S. energy security and create jobs. Opponents say the project is an unnecessary endangerment of wildlife and water supply and continues U.S. dependence on fossil fuels.

The State Department, in its final environmental impact statement on the project Aug. 26, found that the project would have “limited adverse environmental impacts.” It will hold a series of public meetings on Keystone XL at the end of September.